Why i rarely watch the news

Sometimes I wonder what the purpose of the news is. It seems with the 24 hour news cycle in order to keep you watching it’s like the news organizations want to keep the country divided and they want to keep us in fear. If the news was boring then they would be out of jobs because no one would watch since the ratings wouldn’t be high enough to sell the ads. It’s really sad actually. They got most of the country in two factions: conservatives and liberals. There are people on the national level who play those parts well. Everything seems to be black and white… if you aren’t one you’re the other. The truth is that out there in the real world we really aren’t fully one or the other. We get along with people who have opposing view points every day. And some of us, if we write out all that we believe in, are on some issues conservative and others liberal. We all want this country to do well, we just have differing opinions on how to get that done. I wonder if the media didn’t create such a polarization where we would be today.

Local news has it’s own issues. It seems that local news, in order to find something to talk about, find the worst things that happened in the city that day. I am not saying they shouldn’t report on this stuff but how do we benefit by watching it. Does it make our lives that much better to know that someone got murdered downtown last night? Does it make a difference to know about the major car accident on the freeway during rush hour? The only time I can imagine needing to know about a major car accident is if I am on that freeway when it happened and now I know to avoid that area or at least prepare for delays. One thing I noticed by reducing the amount of local news I watch is I feel much better about my community. If you aren’t being told about the rare isolated incidences that happened, you can feel much safer going on a walk through any part of town because it really is safer than what they portray on TV.

Entertainment news is the worst. Even when I try to get away from it I still know what’s going on with the Kardashians. Why are they famous again? Why is it so important to talk about what their family is doing or any other celebrity for that matter.

I do get the news online but I skim the headlines and click on the articles that seem important or that interest me. If I missed something “important” I will find out about it through someone I know on Facebook or Twitter.